No alibis to pretend

Hebrews 11 is the “by faith” synopsis of the Bible. God, the author of the book, delineates and commends the faith of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David Samuel, “and of the prophets: [33] Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
[34] Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
[35] Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
[36] And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
[37] They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
[38] (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Jordan says, “In this passage in Hebrews 11 there are 11 things described, and all of them are positive achievements and they were done in order that these people might achieve a better resurrection.

“Notice the little parenthesis—‘Of whom the world was not worthy.’ Isn’t that an interesting little comment about these people? They were wandering around like a bunch of hunted wild animals and while He’s describing that destitute condition, He puts that little parenthesis in. They were wandering around like that because they were too good for the world. They didn’t have a place to fit in.

“You have seven negative reactions and you’re told it’s to get better things. When verse 35 talks about ‘others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection,’ that’s an interesting statement. That means they could have gotten out of it if they wanted to.

"The reason they endure this by faith—it doesn’t mean they were getting it in the neck because they couldn’t avoid it. They could have avoided it if they didn’t walk by faith—faith required them to accept the consequences.

“Each one of these people were told something to do. Noah was told to build an ark and so on. So the instructions they were given were different. There was one basic underlying hope and promise behind everything and that’s that issue in verse 35 of a better resurrection. The Old Testament saints, by the way, understood there was going to be a resurrection.

“In Job 19 he says, ‘And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.’ We’ve already studied that the Melchizedekian priesthood of Christ is an eternal priesthood. That is, it is a priesthood that provides eternal life and the basic issue is everlasting life.

“When you do away with the literal physical Israel and the kingdom their promised in Scripture, and you take all that and impute it to Gentiles, any system does that and says that in today’s Christians is fulfilled the promises God made them, you know that can’t be true because for a promise to be completed it has to be fulfilled, and when God promised them the land, either they get the land or He didn’t so what He said He’d do.

“The issue coming down through Hebrews 11 is that the way these people back there obtained a good report was by faith. That’s what He started out telling you in verse 2 that ‘by faith the elders obtained a good report.’

"Then He gives you his great list of all the elders, illustrating how they obtained the report through faith. They took God at His Word in spite of all these obstacles; in spite of all the circumstances and the human reasoning and all the rest to the contrary and He lists all that stuff in chapter 11 so He can say chapter 12:1 to you: ‘Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.’

"That’s the issue that Hebrews 10-12, the practical section of Hebrews, is talking about. Are you going to endure on to the saving of your soul or are you going to draw back to perdition? And He says, ‘Look, seeing we are encompassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses.’ He says, ‘We’re encircled with this great cloud of witnesses so that we don’t have any alibis to pretend that the race can’t be run or that it isn’t winnable.’

“How do you know the race can be won? You got this great cloud of witnesses that did it! That endured! That didn’t draw back! That continued on and they didn’t even get a fulfillment of what they were hoping in.

“The only reason they wouldn’t run is because they’re weighted down, and that goes back into the Gospels with ‘the cares of this life’ and all that kind of stuff, or there’s sin in their life and they’d rather have the sin and the self-will. The passage is saying, ‘Lay that aside. Be like the elders and let’s run the race with patience. That’s the issue.’ ”

*****

Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
[36] For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”

Jordan says, “The patience you’re going to need is to understand that after you’ve done the will of God right now then you’re going to receive the promise, so let me give you some illustrations of how that works. It’s faith that’s going to allow you to endure and not draw back and He gives you 40 verses of illustrations of the enduring capacity of faith.

“And then He comes to chapter 12 and makes the application. Hebrews 12:1-2 is sort of like Romans 12:1-2: ‘Here’s the point of the nitty-gritty-make-up-your-mind-let’s-get-down-to-it-and-make-the- decision here. And He uses three things to encourage these people to endurance. The first one was in chapter 10:37. The issue of the Second Advent. He is going to come. ‘You’re waiting on a sure thing,’ He tells them. Then He uses the ‘great cloud of witnesses,’ the elders in chapter 11 who illustrate and demonstrate faith endurance in spite of whatever the obstacles.

Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

As Jordan explains, “He says you want to have a motivation to endure because the Lord’s going to come and you’re going to get the promise. There’s the illustration of the elders that demonstrate to you that you don’t have any alibi; you can endure. Faith will get there and the only way you’re going to do it is by looking to Jesus. That’s the whole issue in Hebrews.

“That’s what the Book of Hebrews has been doing since chapter 1:1--telling them, ‘Look to the provision that God has made for you in Christ.’ The only motivation that’s ever going to get Israel through the tribulation; the one thing that won’t fail them is for them to look for the provisions that God by His grace has made for them in the New Covenant that Jesus Christ made through His blood poured out at Calvary.”