Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] Okay, so there is a composition of prayers from the Puritans.
[00:00:24] When I say Puritans, I'm talking about Protestant Christians from the 17th and 18th century. There's a composition that was put together and published by a minister named Arthur Bennett around 1975. It's called the Valley of Vision.
[00:00:42] Maybe you've heard of the Valley of Vision.
[00:00:45] It's basically a journal of poetic prayers, and it's something I highly commend to you. If you've exhausted the Psalms and you just want to grow and learn more in your prayer life, the Valley of Vision is a great place to start. And what's interesting about the Valley of Vision is that we don't exactly know who of the Puritans wrote each of the prayers that Arthur Bennet compiles. But what we do know is that Bennett himself wrote the first one.
[00:01:19] And the first one is simply called the Valley of Vision. And I'd like to read a segment of this to you because I believe it's not just a beautiful poetic prayer. I think that it's explaining and describing some realities that are in our text this morning. So take a listen to this prayer from the Valley of Vision. It says this.
[00:01:43] Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, you have brought me to the Valley of Vision, where I live in the depths, but see you in the heights, hemmed in by mountains of sin. I behold your glory.
[00:02:01] Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the Valley is the place of vision. It's beautiful, isn't it?
[00:02:40] I want to focus in on a phrase there that says, let me learn by paradox.
[00:02:48] What is a paradox?
[00:02:52] What is that? Here's the definition for you.
[00:02:56] A paradox involves a statement or situation of two seemingly contradictory things that reveal a deeper insight. Okay, so it's two seemingly opposing realities that, when considered together, actually reveal a depth of unity.
[00:03:17] So if you're familiar with the teachings of Jesus, this is one of his favorite styles of teaching. Teaching by paradox. So the last will be first and the first will be last.
[00:03:29] Paradox.
[00:03:31] Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God being born again. What does that mean?
[00:03:38] Let the greatest among you become the youngest, and let the leader be as one who serves.
[00:03:46] This is A paradox.
[00:03:49] It's what the prayer I just read is describing in that the way up is down, that to be low is to be high, to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that the valley is the place where there is the most vision, that you can see the most clearly.
[00:04:07] Now, what does a paradox have to do with our text this morning? We've been in Hebrews 11 and.
[00:04:13] And we've been slowly walking through it. We're learning lessons of faith from the likes of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and Moses.
[00:04:26] This is like the who's who of the Old Testament, right? This is the best of the best.
[00:04:32] But if you notice, all of these men's stories are covered only in the first two books of the Bible, in Genesis and in Exodus. And so we get to the end of this chapter, and the author is basically saying, wait, wait, if I had time, I would tell you about Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and all the prophets. So here's some highlights of feats that happened through the faith in their lives.
[00:04:58] Here's some really brief clips of what's going on.
[00:05:03] And the way that this kind of plays out is that in verse 29 through 35A, when I say A, I mean that's like the first sentence of verse 35.
[00:05:14] There's this amazing rhetorical flow of the power of God working mightily through the faith of his people, acts of providence, miracles, eluding death, being made strong from weakness, even witnessing resurrection power. That's a reference to Elijah raising the widow's son.
[00:05:38] But then in verse 35B, so if you look at your text and you, like, look at Hebrews 11:35b, I'm talking about the second sentence of Hebrews 11:35 through verse 38, we see this shift.
[00:05:52] There's a pivot that takes place.
[00:05:55] The author changes the landscape from the power of faith, and then he turns to the hardship, the pain, the misery, the sorrow, and the suffering of the Christian who lives by faith.
[00:06:11] The costly consequences of walking by faith.
[00:06:17] And so what emerges are two tensions that are at play within our text this morning.
[00:06:24] Two realities that make up one paradox.
[00:06:28] Victory and defeat, strength and weakness, escaping the sword and being slain by the sword. You see that.
[00:06:39] So if we take a step back and we consider this, we actually realize this is the life of the Christian too.
[00:06:47] Right?
[00:06:49] These are realities that we all experience today. The Christian life is one of both immense joy and sometimes unimaginable suffering.
[00:07:02] And as believers, we live in this tension, not just in the day to day, but sometimes in the moment by moment, right?
[00:07:11] A promotion at work is followed by sickness in your home.
[00:07:17] A generous gift is followed by news of a severe diagnosis.
[00:07:24] A difficult conflict can be followed by a relaxing night out.
[00:07:30] A resistance to lust can be followed by succumbing to anger or gossip, however you want to categorize it. You feel the tension in your daily life, right?
[00:07:43] These peaks and these valleys.
[00:07:47] Like, some days I feel like God is just blessing me beyond what I can imagine, right? I'm witnessing his hand at work in my life. His presence feels near to me.
[00:08:00] I can see how he's moving in my friends lives and my family's lives. You can almost feel the power. You can feel the wind of the Spirit in your sails.
[00:08:11] And then some days, one bad thing just stacks on top of another.
[00:08:17] It's the when it rains, it pours.
[00:08:20] There's bad news, there's pain, there's sin in my own heart that still needs to be dealt with.
[00:08:27] There's more trial, there's more sickness. There's more wrestling with God than enjoying God. Are you with me?
[00:08:35] How do we deal with this? How do we live in this tension of the peaks and the valleys of the Christian life? How is it that we can go from experiencing God's goodness and favor in one moment, feeling close to him as ever.
[00:08:48] And then one thing happens after another and suddenly we feel miles apart from Him.
[00:08:54] We start questioning him in prayer more than we are praising Him.
[00:08:59] We wonder if he's really there, if he's really caring for us, if he's still really for us.
[00:09:09] We grumble, we complain. We ask, why do I have to face this now?
[00:09:15] We compare. We say, how come this person doesn't experience this?
[00:09:19] How come her life is so perfect?
[00:09:24] You ever asked that question before?
[00:09:27] I certainly have.
[00:09:29] And so we come back to this phrase. Let me learn by way of paradox.
[00:09:35] So I have two points that we're going to explore this morning. They're just going to be very, very simple.
[00:09:41] Verse 29 to 35A, we're going to draw a line and we're going to call this section Faith on the Mountaintop. Okay?
[00:09:50] And then 35B to 38, we're going to call this Faith in the Valley.
[00:09:56] And then in the final two verses in 39 and 40, we're going to encounter the one who sustains us in both places, okay? So 29 through 35A, this is faith on the Mountaintop. What we have in this first half is a long illustration of how walking by Faith in God gives us, actually can give us a front row seat to witness the power and majesty of what he can really do.
[00:10:28] And so he starts with the Red Sea. Up to this point, he's already, the authors already covered the faith of Moses and about how he trusted in the Lord as his greater treasure rather than the fleeting pleasures of sin. Brad covered that last week. And now the author turns to the people of God and he commends their faith.
[00:10:48] The people of Israel lived by faith as they crossed the Red Sea and walked across the dry land to their safety. And what you need to know is that the crossing of the Red Sea is the ultimate act of deliverance.
[00:11:04] This word deliverance by God in the book of Exodus, it's probably the greatest miracle to have ever taken place, could escape slavery and God literally delivers on his own promises. On the other hand, they're not so fortunate they didn't disobedience to him. They were wiped out by people who live by faith. And you have the Egyptians who lived by Freud.
[00:11:33] It's the same thing with the story of Jericho. Rahab didn't experience this supernatural miracle like the Israelites did. But what she did experience was the providence of God. And in that providence she was delivered as well.
[00:11:50] So if you just to refresh on the story, this is about 40 years after the Red Sea crossing takes place. Joshua sends two spies to scout out the place of Jericho's and they stay with Rahab. And there Rahab confesses faith in the God of Israel. And she even references the great miracle of the Red Sea. Listen to this. This is from Joshua 2.
[00:12:15] She says, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man because of you.
[00:12:29] For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on earth beneath.
[00:12:36] And so, because of the faith of this woman named Rahab, who showed hospitality to God's people, she is now mentioned by the author of Hebrews in the New Testament as a glowing example of what faith in the God who delivers can do.
[00:12:53] And this is just an aside, but friends, if the Spirit who wills every word, every inspired word in the New Testament wills that the story of a Canaanite prostitute from generations ago who was outside the covenant people of God, but was delivered by his grace because of her faith, if the spirit is willing to celebrate Rahab's faith, then there is no one on this earth he is not willing to Save no one.
[00:13:24] And you know why we can say that?
[00:13:26] Because he saved you.
[00:13:29] Because he saved Me.
[00:13:32] If God can save the likes of you, if he can deliver the likes of me, if the redeeming work of the Spirit can fall upon the waters of your soul and cause your heart to be born again, there is no one who he cannot save.
[00:13:47] If he did it with the Israelites and He did it with Rahab, he can save anybody you encounter.
[00:13:54] Your neighbor, your co worker, your non believing friends and family, the people in your life that you're like, no. No way. No. He can because he saved you.
[00:14:08] This is part of what we have the privilege of witnessing on this side of heaven. Because God delivers us and then we get to see him deliver others.
[00:14:19] That's why we make disciples to see God move, to see him work more powerfully.
[00:14:25] Like if you were to just stop and consider what you've seen the Lord do in your own life. If I were to stop the sermon here and we were to just share stories for the rest of the time, we'd probably be here the rest of the night.
[00:14:40] We could just share all day long of the transformation that we've seen. The beauty and goodness of God's grace and how he's impacted the most impossible of people.
[00:14:54] There's a psalm that speaks beautifully to the, to the workings of God in the world. It's Psalm 77, verse 11.
[00:15:02] It says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord.
[00:15:06] Yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
[00:15:11] I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.
[00:15:17] Here's why I really like this verse.
[00:15:19] Because it's a reminder that it's proper practice for us as Christians.
[00:15:25] Not just to reflect on the goodness and nature of God, but it's good practice to reflect on his powerful works, on the things that he does, his action in the world.
[00:15:38] So I want to encourage you. Like what act of God do you need to recall to the front of your mind morning to refuel your own joy in him, to replenish the faith that might be wavering under the stresses of your own life.
[00:15:56] What do you need to do? To ponder all his work, to meditate on all of his mighty deeds?
[00:16:07] Story for you. So six years ago I met a.
[00:16:12] A man who would become a good friend of mine through the Paradox Church.
[00:16:18] He joined my city group and he was not a believer.
[00:16:23] He came in an atheist, kind of agnostic.
[00:16:27] And over time I got to witness God draw him to himself.
[00:16:36] And it was funny, early on he came into the group the way that he came in is that his wife was a believer and she really wanted community.
[00:16:45] And so he obliged. But one of the first times he came to the group, he said, hey.
[00:16:52] He told the whole group this. He said, I'm not a Christian. I don't believe what you guys believe, but can we still be part of the group?
[00:16:59] And it's like, no. You know, what do you say? Yes, of course. This is the church, right? We wouldn't be the church if we said no. And so over the course of the year, he would show up, and I just saw his heart begin to soften towards the idea of God. He would ask questions. He would engage with the sermons. And then about six months in, he comes up to me and he's like, hey, I'm a theist now. I believe in God. I believe there's a God. And I was like, awesome, man. We're almost there.
[00:17:33] Let's talk about Jesus. Let's go. And he's like, no, I'm not ready for that yet. But we would talk through it. And so the process was. It was very slow. It was very methodical, and it wasn't always up and to the right. Some days he would come in and say stuff, and I'm like, I just. I don't know where your head is at, right?
[00:17:53] But very slowly, very surely, the Lord was working on him. And so during the pandemic, the guys in our group, we wanted to maintain community with each other. And so we started, like, a book club.
[00:18:05] And the guys in the group wanted to read Augustine's Confessions. Okay, Confessions. And we were like. We went up to him. We were like, hey, like, this is kind of a heady book. For those of you that don't know, Confessions were written around the 5th century by Augustine. It's kind of his spiritual autobiography and inquiry and to things like time, like, you want to do this? And he's like, sure, yeah. I love that kind of stuff. He was really into philosophy, decided to read it. And we get to the part of the book, okay, and for those of you that don't know the story of Augustine's conversion, he was in a garden, and he was really moved by some of the stories of what he was hearing. God saved some of his other friends, and he was starting to kind of, like, really feel the weight of his sin. And he even told God because he was very sexually promiscuous. He even told God before he got saved. He said, lord, grant me chastity, but not yet.
[00:19:10] I still want to enjoy my sin a little bit. Longer.
[00:19:13] And so he gets to this kind of, like, turning point in the garden. He's feeling really heavy over his sin. And he hears a voice from a child that says, take up and read. Take up and read. So he goes back to where his friend was under a tree, and he grabs a Bible and he opens it up to the book of Romans somewhere in Romans 13.
[00:19:35] And all of a sudden, a flood of peace comes upon his soul. And he turns to the Lord, and there's this radical conversion that Augustine undergoes. And so as this group, we're reading this together, right? And I can tell. I can see on my friend's face, like, the wheels are starting to turn a little bit. Like he's getting very, very close. And so we're talking a lot about conversion and confession and what it looks like to become a believer. And I was hoping at that moment that he would just believe. I'm like, this is it. This has got to be it.
[00:20:07] But he was like, interesting. I want to think about this some more. It's like, oh, you're always thinking. And so he wanted to reflect and process some more. And another few weeks go by, and this is like the Sunday before Christmas.
[00:20:24] And we're in kind of the weightier parts of the book at this point. But one morning he comes in, we're meeting at our friend's apartment, and he says, hey, by the way, I'm a Christian now.
[00:20:40] And we were like, what? Like, run that bias again? He's like, yeah, I've been reminiscing on Augustine's conversion. I've been reading the Bible a lot. And I woke up this morning and I felt that flood of peace.
[00:20:55] And I went and I spoke to my wife, and we cried and we prayed, and now I'm here.
[00:21:04] So he's like, what do I do? And we're like, this is amazing.
[00:21:07] And he was so happy, and he was so joyful. And I kid you not. Like, I just cried the rest of the day. Because there's just nothing more rewarding than the life of a Christian than seeing somebody go from spiritual death to spiritual life. Like, I hope we get to see 10,000 more of that. Like, I hope that you get to witness that as a believer genuinely.
[00:21:33] And we go to church that night. Cause Paradox is meeting at doxology or whatever. And the communion is in these stupid plastic cups.
[00:21:43] And we sat there and we just bawled as he took communion for the first time. And then I got to see him baptized. And it's just like. It's just so amazing.
[00:21:57] Like, what God can do, like, how he can transform a person.
[00:22:01] You know, like, it's good to reflect on these things. And I think that this is what the author of Hebrews is getting at in this string of, like, victorious verses.
[00:22:14] That the faith that conquers kingdoms and enforces justice and shuts the mouths of lions and quenches the power of fire. Like, when we trust in the power of God, God is gracious and powerful to show up and demonstrate for us what he can really do, you know? And if you get to see that, if you get to witness that or experience that, like, allow God to take you to the mountaintop, let him take you there.
[00:22:45] I'm not talking about a spiritual experience at a church camp. I'm talking about a real encounter with divine beauty, with the holiness of God in the gospel.
[00:22:56] Like, when the goodness of God is so manifest that you can actually taste and see it that he's good, this is true awakening in the soul. Like, allow yourself to be brought into the inner courts of his presence when that happens.
[00:23:12] Right?
[00:23:13] It's good.
[00:23:15] It's good to be there.
[00:23:17] Like, we're gonna talk about how you maintain faith in the valley and the trial. But what about when God shows up miraculously?
[00:23:24] How do you respond then?
[00:23:27] Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.
[00:23:35] Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits. Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redee from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, and who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles, like, this is true Christian prosperity, friends.
[00:24:01] I hate so much the prosperity gospel that they get to even take that word. I just want to take it back.
[00:24:09] Because there is prosperity in the gospel. It's just not in stuff.
[00:24:14] It's just not in a stupid boat or a jet or a plane or whatever or a promotion. That's garbage. The prosperity gospel is garbage. But we need to take that word prosperity back. We can call it the fraud gospel or something, you know, the garbage gospel. There is prosperity, friends, and the prosperity is in the Lord, right?
[00:24:41] Like what we're talking about here is loving the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. It's that simple. There's happiness there, true prosperity.
[00:24:53] Like, it's good to be a Christian, isn't it?
[00:24:57] I'm preaching to somebody this morning. Somebody say amen.
[00:25:02] Like, what better life is there than life with God Almighty?
[00:25:08] To walk with him in the coolness of the garden. What's better than being dead to sin and alive to God to be renewed in his presence? Where there's fullness of joy, the life of faith is rewarding. Friends.
[00:25:22] It's good to celebrate. It's good to show honor. It's good to be a believer in Jesus.
[00:25:30] This is a joyful pilgrimage. We're going to judge angels one day.
[00:25:35] We're citizens of a new kingdom.
[00:25:39] We're priests and children and heirs of an inheritance.
[00:25:43] Even this community, this church, this people right now.
[00:25:48] I read this in a book somewhere the other day. This is a partial inheritance from the Lord. Right now, you are a partial inheritance to me. That's amazing.
[00:25:58] Do you want that?
[00:26:00] Do you want that kind of faith?
[00:26:04] Ponder, remember, worship.
[00:26:08] When he heals you, when he hears you in prayer, when he gives you freedom to overcome that sin and temptation.
[00:26:15] These are miraculous deeds of God.
[00:26:18] It's a gift from God.
[00:26:21] Even. Even when we see miracles, even when we see supernatural events, celebrate that he's worthy of it.
[00:26:29] Listen to Jesus words. He says, if you who are evil, who know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask him?
[00:26:42] That's. That's prosperity.
[00:26:46] That's not stuff. That's that. That. That's the light. That's life in the spirit. That's eternal life.
[00:26:55] So that's faith on the mountaintop. So when you're there, let me encourage you. Just take in the view. Take it in. Enjoy God.
[00:27:02] Enjoy Him.
[00:27:04] Okay, so we pivot now. We pivot a little bit. We descend into the valley.
[00:27:11] Look at the text. Verse 35B. Remember, this is that second sentence, starting with some were tortured.
[00:27:18] Look at the shift here. He says, some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life.
[00:27:27] Others suffered mocking and flogging, even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with the sword. They went about in skins and sheep and skins of sheep and goats. Destitute, afflicted, mistreated.
[00:27:43] You see what happened, right? Because it's like almost in the same breath. The author of Hebrews is basically saying, there were those who experienced great victory and triumph over their enemies, who saw incredible acts of power from God, even resurrection.
[00:27:58] And then there were others.
[00:28:01] There were those who were tortured, who suffered greatly, who were put to death in horrendous, gory ways.
[00:28:10] But remember, this is all still connected to faith.
[00:28:13] It's still through faith from verse 33. That's the driving mechanism here.
[00:28:19] So through faith there is power and through faith there is pain.
[00:28:25] What are we to make of this?
[00:28:28] How is it that some are appointed to great blessing and victory and others are permitted to suffer and even endure agonizing hurt like this? Is an intense amount of physical trauma and hardship described here.
[00:28:48] If God's people can experience amazing miraculous things on the one hand, and on the other hand experience torture and stoning and burning and imprisonment, what does that say about the life of faith?
[00:29:02] The reality is that true lasting faith in the Son of God is no guarantee of comfort or security in this life.
[00:29:15] True lasting faith in the Son of God is no guarantee of comfort or security in this life. What the author is saying is that in our trusting, in our believing in Jesus, God does not always work miracles and go unrest.
[00:29:30] What he is saying is that through and in the midst of suffering meaning that going to embrace the seasons of plenty of it's this idea that Paul gets at in 2 Corinthians 6. Listen closely to this.
[00:29:46] He says we are treated as imposters and yet are true as unknown and yet well known as dying. And behold, we lived as punished and yet not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
[00:30:09] Why can Paul say that?
[00:30:11] Why is it possible for us to say that?
[00:30:15] Because when you're in the valley, what is going to sustain you in those moments?
[00:30:20] Like when you receive the news, the tragic news, and you learn that they're not gonna make it.
[00:30:27] Like I've lost three grandparents who were my best friends and I still remember where I was when my mom or dad called me and said they're not gonna make it, going to lose them.
[00:30:40] Your soul is brought low to its lowest place.
[00:30:44] That's what we're talking about here. We're talking about when the valley is low and dark. Like what's going to carry us through Deuteronomy 33:27 is. It's. You may have heard me quote it before. It's my new go to verse for suffering.
[00:31:06] I love the way the King James version words says the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.
[00:31:18] Underneath the pain, underneath the sorrow, underneath the loss of your loved ones, underneath your sin and your brokenness, your pain underneath are the everlasting arms.
[00:31:33] Because faith in the valley doesn't look like us just walking back up it.
[00:31:39] Because in our lowest moments, in our greatest pain, we can barely move, we can barely breathe.
[00:31:46] No Faith. And faith in the valley means falling into the arms of Jesus.
[00:31:53] Not ignoring, not suppressing it, not taking it all in on yourself, but getting so low below the surface that the only thing there is the everlasting arms that can hold you up.
[00:32:07] That's true faith, because it's God truly sustaining you in that moment, right?
[00:32:14] And listen, He's a good father.
[00:32:17] He catches his children every time you can fall into his arms. Your circumstances might not change, but every time he's going to catch you.
[00:32:30] And there's another beautiful encouragement here in verse 38 of Hebrews 11. If you look back at the text, after all these visions of being sewn and sawn into the mocking and flogging and chains and imprisonment, he says, look at this verse of whom the world is not worthy.
[00:32:48] What does he mean by that?
[00:32:50] He's saying that when you have the kind of person who endures pain, who endures suffering, who perseveres through trial, who says, lord, I don't know what you're doing, but I trust you.
[00:33:06] I love you.
[00:33:08] When that kind of person emerges out of the valley, they're a gift to the world.
[00:33:16] That's what he's saying. The world doesn't deserve people like that, men and women who endure unimaginable hardship and suffering for the Lord Jesus. So let me just say, if you're here and you've been through painful, long suffering in your story, and you've trusted God through it, hear this word from God himself. This is God speaking. He says, the world is not worthy of you.
[00:33:48] You're a gift to the world.
[00:33:51] It does not deserve you.
[00:33:54] You are worthy of God Almighty.
[00:33:59] Last point here.
[00:34:02] Jesus endured these things too, did he not?
[00:34:07] All of this pain and suffering and torture, we're never going to get lower than he did.
[00:34:16] Because underneath all of that was the very wrath of God poured out on the Son.
[00:34:26] But in those things, he is our sympathetic high priest.
[00:34:30] He knows what you're going through.
[00:34:34] Our God sympathizes with his people who suffer righteously because His Son suffered righteously and perfectly in our place.
[00:34:45] So here's how we tie it together. This is verse 39 and 40.
[00:34:50] 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.
[00:35:03] Remember, the author is describing Old Testament saints here, okay? So that all of these, whether they saw victory or persecution, whether they faced their death or escaped their death, they were commended for their faith and their honor because they entrusted themselves to the promises of Yahweh.
[00:35:24] But every one of them died with the promise unfulfilled because they did not witness the coming of the Messiah.
[00:35:33] They did not see the fulfillment of their faith.
[00:35:37] So, in other words, the playing field is getting leveled here.
[00:35:41] Whether your faith results in victory or in suffering. He's basically saying it doesn't matter because it's not the extent of the faith that brings about our salvation.
[00:35:53] It's not enough. No matter how victorious or degraded they became, it was not enough to make them perfect.
[00:36:02] Because what had to happen was this. God had to provide something better.
[00:36:09] That's the essence of salvation.
[00:36:12] It's God coming to us.
[00:36:15] It's the Word who became flesh. It's the Son of God meeting us in our sin and delivering us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Christianity is all about God providing something better.
[00:36:30] And that something better is a new covenant.
[00:36:33] It's the atoning work of Jesus and recognizing all things to himself. That's the gospel.
[00:36:41] And the reason that exactly zero of these Old Testament saints were made perfect is because the true perfect had not arrived yet.
[00:36:50] It's not necessarily conveying a moral, which means completion, meaning complete, until Christ had accomplished. And once he did, the Bible says he goes to the land of the dead, victory over everybody, saying, proclaiming what he's accomplished. And he leads a whole host of captives up to heaven with them, where they are now experiencing the full promise of the Messiah today.
[00:37:19] And so what about us?
[00:37:22] Because, after all, we're not looking for the fulfillment of a new covenant. We're looking back at its completion, right?
[00:37:32] Here's how Hebrews solves this paradox we've been outlining.
[00:37:38] Because what these verses are conveying is that it's not about the results of our faith. The success, the suffering, the victory, the failure, even the extent of our faith, how hot or cold it might be.
[00:37:53] It's about the object of our faith.
[00:37:56] It's about where the eyes of our heart are fixated on in the midst of the triumphs and the defeats.
[00:38:04] Because, friends, at the end of the day, like, we just want to make it to the end, right?
[00:38:09] We just want to make it.
[00:38:12] We just want to be faithful enough and persevere and endure with Jesus to be with him in glory.
[00:38:22] Let me give you a parable, and if it doesn't help, you can just read the parables of Jesus. They're a lot better.
[00:38:29] But let's just picture this. Let's say you and I are out in a field together, and we both get trapped in A well, okay.
[00:38:41] And we're down there a long time. We're down there like six months.
[00:38:46] And the only things we have to eat are dead rats and a little bit of water off the ground.
[00:38:54] It's a bad situation.
[00:38:56] We're tired, we're hungry.
[00:38:59] Our voices are hoarse because we're shouting for rescue every day. We're just hoping that somebody comes by.
[00:39:05] And finally a man comes upon and sees our plight and he runs home to get some supplies to rescue us. So he goes home and he gets a couple of ropes and a pulley system, all right?
[00:39:18] And he throws down a rope. And your rope comes down first and you put it on and it's. You fasten it to your waist and it's a great fit. It's not too tight.
[00:39:30] It's perfect.
[00:39:31] Then he starts rolling you up, okay. Just starts slowly rolling you up. And the sun is shining.
[00:39:41] It's good weather. And very slowly, very surely, very securely, you get up to the top and you're saved. Amazing. You're rejoicing, right?
[00:39:52] Well, now it's my turn. And the rope comes down to me.
[00:39:56] And I put on the rope and it's a little bit tight, okay? So it starts scraping my waist a little bit.
[00:40:04] And for whatever reason, as he starts pulling me up on the way up. Cause I can't see what's beyond me, right?
[00:40:12] I start swinging around, the rope is loose, and my body starts banging up against the walls of the well.
[00:40:22] And then a storm comes in and it starts to rain and then it starts to hail on me and my body starts getting all battered and bruised and it hurts. And by the time I make it out, I'm bloodied.
[00:40:39] But at the very end, when I make it all the way out with you and I get to the top, am I going to feel the pain of those very real scars?
[00:40:51] No.
[00:40:53] Because we both made it out equally. We're both equally saved.
[00:40:58] We made it.
[00:41:00] We couldn't get out ourselves. We needed someone better to rescue us out. That's what Jesus does for us when you and I put on the rope.
[00:41:09] Because the rope is what's going to take us out, right? The rope is what's going to pull us out of our mess.
[00:41:15] But because we believe and trust in the one who is pulling us, who is faithful, he's going to get us out.
[00:41:22] But one of us or both of us might get swung up against the wall or hailed upon a few times.
[00:41:29] Because ultimately the rope doesn't promise us that we're going to get to the top without A scratch.
[00:41:36] But it does promise that we're going to make it out.
[00:41:40] And once we're there, once we make it into the glory of heaven, all we'll want to do is hug and kiss and fall at the feet of the One who pulled us out of the first place.
[00:41:53] The reality is that no matter how you came in today, if you're a follower of Jesus or not, the call is to trust in God who has provided the better way.
[00:42:03] Jesus is the better way.
[00:42:05] He's the only way.
[00:42:07] The only way your soul is going to be satisfied, the only way you're going to be rescued from the pin of your sin is if he comes down and gets you. Because even better than my silly little parable, Jesus goes all the way down to the bottom and dies, only to raise us back up.
[00:42:26] He goes down himself.
[00:42:29] He's the only way to live this life of faith. He's the only way to make sense of this paradox that we find ourselves in.
[00:42:36] Jesus says it better than any of us ever could. He says whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. That's the key.
[00:42:48] We stop trying to save our own lives and we surrender to his.
[00:42:54] So where do you find yourself this morning?
[00:42:57] Are you on the mountain, taking in the views, conquering sin and life's challenge, blessed with health and wealth and success?
[00:43:07] Or are you in the valley?
[00:43:10] Are you succumbing to the temptations of sin?
[00:43:13] Feeling the weight of your own suffering, wondering where God is in the midst of your pain?
[00:43:20] Maybe you're not a believer at all and you're trying to figure out if Christianity is really true. Wherever you are, here's the call put on the rope.
[00:43:31] Be saved. Trust in Jesus. Receive his salvation.
[00:43:36] Repent. Turn from your sin. Trust that he will carry you through into eternal life.
[00:43:43] That will carry you through today.
[00:43:48] And when you get there, you can rejoice, because by faith you will have been made perfect and complete, enjoying him and loving him forever. Amen.
[00:43:59] Let's pray.
